How To Smooth Boot

3rd March 2008, 14:07

Can anyone tell me or show me a thread thats tell you how to smooth a boot...

I kinda know how to do it, i just need some confirmation/techniques

How i would do it....

1. Remove the number plate,the surround and the lock (And Spoiler)

2. Sand the boot so all the lacquer and color has been removed.

3. Wash Down the boot (Make sure it Dries)

(Optional Step, 3a):

- 3a. Drill a Hole approx 10mm in center of where the number plate used to be. (this will be used to enter in the expanding foam after the panel has been glued)

4. Apply Bonding Glue to the inside of the fiber glass panel, make sure you have some close to edges! (Wait till it goes tacky)

5. Carefully put on the fiber glass panel on the boot and apply pressure. (Avoid Pressing in the center where number used to be!!)

6. Wait for Glue to Dry. (Would properly be best to wait 24 hours)

(Optional Step, 6a):

- 6a. Use expanding foam inside the hole drilled to strengthen center of the boot panel. (DO NOT use too much as the panel will crack!!) (Could also place a grommet inside the hole as well)

7. Lightly sand down around the fiber glass panel to remove any glue (Sand on top of panel if panel has not been primed)

8. Apply body filler around the visible edges of the fiber glass panel and smooth in to the shape of the boot.

9. Wait for filler to dry. (Would properly be best to wait 24 hours)

10. Sand the filler smooth to the shape of the car.

11. Prime the whole boot using a few coats of high build primer. (Very Lightly Sand between the first few coats.

12. Wait for Primer to dry. (Would properly be best to wait 24 hours)

13. Paint Boot with the matching car color. (2-3 coats)

14. Wait for paint to dry. (Would properly be best to wait 24 hours)

15. Lacquer the boot (2-3 Coats)

16. Wait for lacquer to dry. (Would properly be best to wait 24 hours)

IF ANYONE KNOWS ANY WAY TO IMPROVE/ADD/CHANGE THIS THEN IT WOULD BE NICE

REP GIVEN

3rd March 2008, 19:58

number 1 i would say is to take the boot from the actual car itsself

3rd March 2008, 20:03

No1 - don't use a fiberglass panel.....

Do it properly and get a plate welded over the recess then use as little filler as possible to smooth the edges. This avoids cracking, a fiberglass panel will crack over time, slamming boot shut etc.

3rd March 2008, 21:24

yeah well thats far too expensive

3rd March 2008, 21:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by r3d_fac3d

yeah well thats far too expensive

Yes but in the long wrong cheaper than having to replace fibre glass every few months

4th March 2008, 07:16

not if your careful. can last ages. and much better for people who don't have much money coming in.

4th March 2008, 07:38

^^ can see what you mean mate wanting to do it as cheap as possible but trust me its not worth it. i have had two smoothed boots. one was pure filler and lasted about a month and then started to crack and i only used my boot about 5 times. the other was welded and only used a small amount of filler and as far as i know its still in perfect condition and thats over a year old. no longer on the car now though, just got standard with smoothed holes

have you thought of that? just smoothing the holes and you could smooth the boot lock lip into the boot itself?

4th March 2008, 07:44

I've already de-badged the boot, but i want to de-lock and remove the number plate hole, basically i want it completely flushed lol. I've looked at just de-locking it but tbh there isn't much point, mite as well do the hole thing, its costing my 60 quid to do the boot, (not much money) at least if it fuks up then i can get it done properly but until then IT MIGHT LAST

how did you do yours when you used the panel? cos I'm guessing it cracked cos the hole behind the panel where the number plated used to be wasn't filled in. my plan is to either fill that full with expanding foam or something similar to prevent vibrations in the panel and flex from external pressure

13th March 2008, 16:19

lol started to smooth my boot few days ago, went a bit wrong

but i manged to sort it out

I bought : 1 fiber glass boot panel, 1 can of bonding expanding foam, 1 tube of no more nails, 1 can of primer, 1 can of paint, 1 can of lacquer, 250ml ultra fine body filler a few sanding block and some 1000 grit wet and dry sand paper.

Basically, i did that guide i wrote down at the bottom. 1st i de-wipered the boot removing the motor etc.. from inside of the boot. i did this firstly cos its looks good with a smoothed boot and secondly i needed some space inside the boot for my boor release mechanism. Then i de-locked the boot and installed the boot release mechanism and took of the plastic surround around the lock of the boot and also taken of the number plate and screwed this to the plastic part of the bumper. after that i sanded down my whole boot down enough so there was no lacquer left and you could start to see the primer coat underneath. then i screwed the boot panel onto the boot. this is where things started to go wrong. yes the boot panel tht cost me about 28 pounds didn't fit correctly lol......

1.

2.

3.

4.

As you can see it didn't fit....

Well in the 1st picture above i fixed that by cutting off up to the line where it starts to curve inwards at the very bottom of the boot. which also revealed 1/2 a inch of the boot whole i was trying to cover up.. but i carried on anyway...

So unscrewed the panel and glued the boot with no more nails and screwed back down the panel and left it 24 hours....

Next day i opened the boot and used expanding bonding foam, though the holes inside the boot left from removing the lock, to fill up the gap. i also filled up the gap from where i cut across the panel to remove the dodgey bit. than i left it 24 hours...

Next day the foam had cured and i sanded the foam down to a curve at dodgey bit so i could use body filler to smooth out the edges. then after that i applied the body filler as necessary across the panel smoothing it in but leaving it rough cos i will be sanding it the next day..... As i was smoothing i removed the screws as i went along....

1.

2.

3.

4.

this bit has dried and ive started to spray for primer so it doesn't soak up water over night.

In the first two pics theres 3 holes, i drilled this though the panel so i could apply more glue inside to make sure it was bonded at the bottom where i cut the dodgey bit off.

I haven't finished smoothing in the panel yet as I've decided i cant be bothered atm lol, I'm going to finish that off tomorrow if it doesn't rain and maybe sand it as well.

13th March 2008, 19:43

fair play to you for trying

13th March 2008, 20:10

lol ty, it will work!! i wont let it fail lol!!!

13th March 2008, 20:18

yeah looks good so far! lets hope it doesnt go wrong and make you a bit r3d fac3d...

13th March 2008, 20:19

lmao

14th March 2008, 00:00

looks good so far mate. fair play for having a go yourself, bodywork if damn hard to get right lol.

14th March 2008, 01:05

yea i thought id have a go as i smoothed in my bonnet to my dimma grill not long ago and that turned out quite well even tho i haven't got round to painting that yet

14th March 2008, 17:18

Quote:

number 1 i would say is to take the boot from the actual car itsself

haha

14th March 2008, 19:44

lol you are so brave for trying that yourself , i would NEVER attempt it myself - Nothing wrong with a bodge once in a while lol

14th March 2008, 21:46

ho wmuch is it to get it done properly

14th March 2008, 22:03

about 100 to get done properly then 100 to get sprayed (approx)

14th March 2008, 23:37

well tbh if it ever goes wrong is soo easy to respray ur boot urself for about 15 quid with aerosol canss!!! so tbh i took a risk and seeing as ive done a bit of body filling b4 i gave it a go

if u can finger paint, u can paint your own car using aerosol lol!

and it turns out mint, no need to waste 100 quid on a professional respray on ur boot, lol if you want a respray on ur boot come here and ile do it for 20 quid lol

14th March 2008, 23:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by r3d_fac3d

I've already de-badged the boot, but i want to de-lock and remove the number plate hole, basically i want it completely flushed lol. I've looked at just de-locking it but tbh there isn't much point, mite as well do the hole thing, its costing my 60 quid to do the boot, (not much money) at least if it fuks up then i can get it done properly but until then IT MIGHT LAST

how did you do yours when you used the panel? cos I'm guessing it cracked cos the hole behind the panel where the number plated used to be wasn't filled in. my plan is to either fill that full with expanding foam or something similar to prevent vibrations in the panel and flex from external pressure

i didnt use a panel on mine mate as they dont fit very well. i got it done properly

14th March 2008, 23:48

yer as i found out, mine didnt fit but it fitted good enough for me to modify and fill... tbh if your no good/never used filler then dont bother

15th March 2008, 07:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by r3d_fac3d

well tbh if it ever goes wrong is soo easy to respray ur boot urself for about 15 quid with aerosol canss!!! so tbh i took a risk and seeing as ive done a bit of body filling b4 i gave it a go

if u can finger paint, u can paint your own car using aerosol lol!

and it turns out mint, no need to waste 100 quid on a professional respray on ur boot, lol if you want a respray on ur boot come here and ile do it for 20 quid lol

professional resprays are a lot of cash for one reason, there professional.

I've done a lot of spraying, i use professional equipment (compressor, fed gun, etc) but still i cant get a good finish, because i'm not a professional sprayer. its awefully hard to get a good finish with rattle cans especially doing it outside, the moist enviroment will just give you orange peel.

15th March 2008, 08:26

I think the same thing, i've used a compressor etc and i've used rattle cans and neither have given me anywhere near a decent finish and I'd say with paint i'm about as talented as your going to get. Its easy to get it not to peel but it will always have a flat look, even with laquer. Props for trying though

15th March 2008, 11:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCD-Performance

professional resprays are a lot of cash for one reason, there professional.

I've done a lot of spraying, i use professional equipment (compressor, fed gun, etc) but still i cant get a good finish, because i'm not a professional sprayer. its awefully hard to get a good finish with rattle cans especially doing it outside, the moist enviroment will just give you orange peel.

i can second that!

i do bumper repairs as part of my job and would never use a rattle can to try and get a semi decent finish, ends up lumpy and the laquer looks flat.... will end up with trapped dirt in the laquer and a poor finish after a few weeks on the road.

fair play for givin it a go yourself, can fully commend you on that, but i'd get a pro spray as will look 100x better

15th March 2008, 13:04

it would probbly be better for a pro to do it but i say for 90% less of the price the difference in what i can do with a can isn't worth it! I really think spray cans are easy you don't need a compressor, thats probz what make it harder as you have less control. i have sprayed pretty much the whole of my mates car with aerosol paint. yea obviously you don't spray outside as many things can go wrong, but spraying in the garage with cans is deffo thumbs up for me!

15th March 2008, 13:49

repped for effort mate!

15th March 2008, 14:28

ty

lol tbh i need some rep lol as some losers pounded me down to -112 rep a few months ago

15th March 2008, 14:34

i will post up some more pictures as soon as i get more done

atm I'm just waiting on some more filler to come though the post for the second coat

should'nt be too long, the paint might take a while as i still haven't got round to painting my dimma grill that i smoothed into my bonnet a while back:

Only got round to priming it

16th March 2008, 01:02

full marks for a good job mate bit of DIY wouldnt hurt anybody

16th March 2008, 01:14

DIY is what makes it fun! Yeah you could go to the bodyshop and get everything done for you but doing it your self really makes seem so much better. lol be a man and start sanding off your paint boys and girls!!!

be risky